Viola Concerto No. 1 [Mov. 2] Scherzo

Instrumentation

Viola solo, Symphony Orchestra

Score, download - 30.74MB

Other Information

This concerto was written in 1955 for Winifred Copperwheat [seen left with Frank Stiles] and was tailormade to suit her brilliant and romantic style and to exploit the range of the viola. The work is in three movements; the first, Rhapsody, is in sonata form with an accompanied cadenza. It is followed by a brilliant Scherzo with a contrasting trio. The final Passacaglia is a set of continuous variations which bring back and develop material from the previous movements.

It was in 1957 that Winifred Copperwheat [below right] began to rehearse Frank´s Viola Concerto no. 1 which lead to a ´wonderful´ performance by her and Sir Adrian Boult. The distinguished violist, Walter Trampler, took it up and gave the first American performance.

In the recording accompanying this entry the performers are Henry Myerscough [viola], Priory Concertante of London with Adrian Leaper [conductor]. Movements 1 & 2 are given in full but movement 3 is a truncated version. Visitors to this site are reminded that copyright exists on all the recordings on the CCA site.